Trump wants to cancel order for presidential plane due to high price

(Baonghean.vn) - President-elect Donald Trump, in a statement posted on Twitter on December 6, said that the new Boeing 747 aircraft being built to carry 'future presidents' currently costs more than 4 billion USD and he wants to cancel this order.

Statement by President-elect Donald Trump posted on Twitter. Photo: Twitter.

The tweet read: “Boeing is building a brand new Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control at over $4 billion. Cancel order!”

Asked by reporters about the issue, Trump replied: “That plane is totally out of our control. So it’s going to cost us over $4 billion for the Air Force One program. And I think that’s ridiculous. We want Boeing to make a lot of money, but not that much.”

Trump did not say why he believed the planes would cost “over $4 billion.” Boeing said it currently has a $170 million Air Force One contract.

A source close to Boeing's Air Force One program told CNN that even the company has a hard time estimating the cost of the program at this point because "the Pentagon hasn't decided all the additional details they want on the new Air Force One."

Without knowing the full security specifications, it's difficult to give a cost estimate, and the Air Force isn't even sure whether it wants two or three planes.

“We’re not sure where he got that number,” said a Boeing official.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest also stated: “The figures Trump cited do not appear to reflect the nature of the financial agreement between Boeing and the Department of Defense.”

In an official statement, Boeing said that the current contract allows the company to “assist in determining the capabilities of military aircraft complexes to meet the specific requirements of the President of the United States.”

To date, the US Air Force has budgeted $2.9 billion through 2021 for two new Air Force Ones, which are expected to replace the pair of old planes currently serving President Obama. The new planes are expected to be ready for operation in 2022. The US Air Force has also spent about $93 million preparing to produce the new planes. This figure is also included in Boeing's current contract but has not yet been implemented.

Meanwhile, Trump spokesman Jason Miller said the president-elect’s comments underscored his desire to cut government spending wherever possible. “The problem is that the president-elect thinks $4 billion is a huge number, and taxpayers want to be assured that the government is accountable and doing everything it can to keep costs down,” Miller said.

One of the two Air Force Ones currently in operation began flying during the time of President Ronald Reagan. Photo: Getty.

Of the two Air Force Ones in use, one first flew during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, and the other was delivered in 1990 under the George H.W. Bush administration. Both planes are expensive to operate and maintain.

The Air Force has not yet placed a formal order for the new aircraft. The agency has chosen the latest version of the Boeing 747-8 jetliner as the basis for the new Air Force Ones. It takes about two years to assemble the basic aircraft. Then it takes several more years for a team of engineers and mechanics to add communications, missile avoidance systems, in-flight refueling, VIP interiors, and protection against magnetic fields after a nuclear blast, among other things.

It is known that after Trump's statement, Boeing's stock tended to decrease slightly.

Thu Giang

(According to CNN)